almshouse
Americannoun
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a house endowed by private charity for the reception and support of the aged or infirm poor.
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(formerly) a poorhouse.
noun
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history a privately supported house offering accommodation to the aged or needy
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another name for poorhouse
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of almshouse
First recorded in 1350–1400, almshouse is from Middle English almes hous. See alms, house
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A triptych painting that was kept in an almshouse chapel has been valued at up to £3.5m by auctioneers.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
It's their own wrong thought that's led them to the almshouse.
From Salon ● May 26, 2025
The museum in Leerdam is part of an almshouse for unmarried women that also showcases the collection of its 18th-century founder.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2021
“Inmates of the crumbling municipal almshouse on Memorial Drive will be evacuated without delay to facilitate the shutdown of the 150-year-old structure by Dec. 31,” reported The Salem News on Nov. 28, 1953.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 26, 2019
Six Overseers managed the almshouse and were responsible for what went on inside that building, while fourteen Guardians took care of those in need outside the almshouse.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Like many almshouses, the layout includes a central communal area, in this case a garden.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2024
By 1874, public authorities were already removing destitute White children from their parents, often to be placed in almshouses.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2022
Still other skulls came from the potter’s fields of almshouses and public hospitals, where U.S. and European doctors had long sourced bodies for dissection.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 8, 2021
Nursing homes rose from the almshouses in England and America that cared for the poor.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2021
Along the way, he built schools and almshouses, new roads and bridges, and even founded whole new towns, establishing himself as one of the most enlightened of the English landlords in Ireland at the time.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
